Portage to observe Korean War Armistice Day with ceremony Saturday

PORTAGE, MI – It has been called “The Forgotten War” but for those who attend ceremonies for Korean War Armistice Day on Saturday the three-year conflict will be remembered.

Bob Hill, a Korean War veteran, during the 2012 Korean War Armistice Day ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in Portage.Tom Haroldson/Special to MLive

Kalamazoo and Portage area veterans and their families are invited to the event at 11 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial in Portage, next to the Portage District Library and Portage Central Cemetery on Library Lane.

“This is the 60th year of freedom for the Korean people,” said Bob Hill, of Portage, a Korean War veteran and active veterans’ service group member who was instrumental in getting the Portage Veterans Memorial established years ago.

The speaker will be Joshua Turner. Also on hand will be the honor guard from VFW Post 5855. Brian Bay will sing and Portage students will play Taps. Korean food will available to sample at the event, sponsored by American Legion Post 207, VFW Post 5855 and area veterans.

The Korean War began June 25, 1950 and ended July 27, 1953 with an Armistice agreement.

National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day has been observed each July in community memorial services and with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

During the Korean War, 36,573 American troops were killed and 103,284 others wounded.